Are You Crazy, Too?
by Jade Feline
Summary: Roxas works in a restaurant, stuck in his shell from a troubling past until a lecherous redhead pulls him out of it. But in a city where everything is more than it seems, will he know who to trust? Axel/Roxas
1. Introduction

Are You Crazy Too?

Hi All! This is my first AU fanfiction and I hope that it turns out alright. I am aware that this particular trope has been used before, probably several times but I believe that the way I have put this story together will be different and entertaining enough that you will keep reading. I would love some feedback for this. Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated. Thanks, let's see how this turns out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters, names of things, etc.

Warning: There may be some spoilers snuck in here.

Different warning: This story will contain foul language, violence, homosexuality and sex; not necessarily in that order. There may be dashes of straight on occassion too. If you are offended by any of this please do not read. Thank you!

Introduction

Everything was burning. It was burning and Roxas couldn't seem to move from his bed. He saw smoke pouring out from under the bedroom door, saw the paint cracking and peeling as the fire caught the oxygen in his room and sizzled across his carpet in one quick movement. Faces seemed to twist in the flames like creatures of nightmare to his frightened mind.

In moments his curtains were ablaze and all he could do was pull his knees to his chest in an attempt to make his tiny body smaller. There was a pain streaking up his left arm but his eyes were already tightly closed, the thick grey air choking him before a hand gripped him roughly and hauled him out of the burning house.

"You're alright now kid." The gruff voice of the fireman echoed slightly in his semi conscious mind. An oxygen mask was stuck on him and his Mother held him tightly, his Father's wrathful muttering barely registering. He vaguely heard something about permanent scarring as his arm was wrapped in a length of gauze when it finally clicked. His home was gone, he had almost died. There were monsters in the fire.

All Roxas could feel was terror as he jerked out of his Mother's arms, ripping off the oxygen mask and tearing across the neatly cut lawns in an attempt to escape the flames and the fear. He stumbled slightly, crawling up a grassy hill at the end of the block and nearly falling back down it again when a hot, oddly smooth hand grasped his arm and pulled him to the top.

The boy at the top was laughing in a way that seemed almost surreal, and when he turned his face to look at the young blonde boy at his feet, Roxas could only see piercing eyes before-

"Break's over Roxas! Back to work!"

The nineteen year old raised his head from the break room's table blearily to see his cousin Sora leaning into the doorway. "Come on man, if you're that tired why didn't you just take the day off?"

Roxas grabbed the rag by his side loosely and stood. "'Cause I don't want to get fired?" He shrugged and walked past the other boy. "I swear the Bossman has it in for me." He groaned, pausing for a moment to put on a very strained false cheerfulness. He didn't actually interact with many customers as he was discouraged from doing so, but you never really knew who was watching.

The sign above the massive doors outside read "Organization XIII", but it hadn't always been that way. Roxas could still remember when "Kingdom Hearts" had been written in majestic letters over the outline of a pale blue heart. It had never really been the same after its owner Ansem passed away. The old owner had been a mentor to some, a surrogate father to others. People had even gone so far as to begin calling him Ansem the Wise and all were heartbroken to see both the man and the building go. Perhaps that was why his brother Xemnas had tried to resurrect the restaurant, if altering it significantly.

After he clocked back in he was like a metronome. Clear tables, load plates on tray, bring tray back, wipe table down, repeat. In the brief intervals when there were either no customers or no one was done eating yet, he would roll silverware or clean windows until Xemnas yelled at him to stop and get back to work. At times like these, Kairi and Namine would come over quickly and while one distracted the raging manager the other would attempt to calm the blonde. He was grateful to them for that, because if they didn't he had no doubt that he would have said or done something that would have shoved him back into unemployment.

The restaurant broke down into a hierarchy of workers with servers and the main kitchen staff towards the top and people more on Roxas level at the bottom. He still didn't know the names of all the kitchen staff, but he was pretty sure he finally had the names of the others down. Cloud, Leon, and Demyx were all waiters, though Demyx often ended up washing dishes when they needed it. About two weeks after Roxas had been hired; two of his friends (Hayner and Pence) from back in highschool had also been brought on the staff, making up for the Dishwashers that had left a week prior. After that there were the odd jobs of cashier and Hostess which Kairi and Namine juggled between them and finally, on the bottom rung of the ladder were the bussers, or as Roxas privately thought of them, the crap cleaners. They were composed of Roxas, his amazingly tolerant cousin, and Seifer.

Roxas hated Seifer with a passion that was shared mutually between the boys. Sora had neglected to mention that the confrontational Shit was working there, and for good reason. If Roxas had known his near-nemesis not only worked with him, but was his superior, he wouldn't have bothered even coming to the interview. It was a good thing Hayner was on dishes, because if he had to work alongside Seifer, Roxas was almost positive that they would kill each other on the first day.

"Hey, Chickenwuss, table three needs wiping." Ah, speak of the black beanied bastard and he will appear.

"I thought you weren't allowed to wear that hat in here anymore." Roxas glared, running his rag under warm water to wet it.

"You get to wear that stupid little armband thing, and it looks like shiii-irts are coming in s couple of days isn't that right Boss?"

Roxas froze as a dark hand rested on his shoulder. "Table three has come and gone Roxas. There is syrup and egg everywhere and I suggest you get over there and clean it. Seifer, table twenty two needs cleaning. I do expect you two to do some actual work while Sora is on a break, and take off that ridiculous hat." The amber eyed man looked as though he was about to continue but he was called away by the distressed looking assistant manager. Xemnas and Saix made up the very top rung of the ladder and had managed to keep things running even with the downturn of the economy. Admittedly, now they drew a different sort of crowd and few new workers stayed for more than a few months, but business was doing well.

Roxas wiped the table down thoroughly, pausing briefly to scrub particularly stubborn patches of congealed syrup from the table top when he heard his employer let out a strangled yell and turned just in time to see Saix cringe.

Xemnas looked furious and immediately stormed over to the closest expendable worker and began yelling. "Tell me Demyx, do you enjoy being slow or is it just an inescapable fact of your being? I need you on dishes, now! Roxas, what are you still doing over there! Get that cutlery to the back! What do you think I pay you for?"

Roxas abandoned the table and rushed the tray to the back to see Demyx hiding a smile with his hands. When the busser opened his mouth to ask about it, Demyx just shook his head.

"You'll find out if you go back out there. I wouldn't recommend it, buuut-"

"I have to go out there anyway." Roxas unloaded his tray with ease. "I'll get yelled at otherwise. 'Sides, Seifer's still out there, right?"

Demyx shrugged, still wearing that secretive smile of his as Roxas rolled his eyes and took his empty tray out.

He managed to stay under the radar of his employer, busily cleaning the tables as quickly as they were emptied. He refused to be scolded for a second that time that day, and as even Seifer was nowhere to be seen he was just going to have to pick up the slack. Feeling more than a little self righteous he went to the last table near the door and began to load things onto his tray, reaching over to grab the last glass when he felt the hand grope his ass.

In a flash he whipped around and struck the person behind him on impulse before realizing what he'd just done.

A tall, spiky haired redhead rubbed his cheek and let out a low whistle. He wore ripped jeans, a black tank top, and black gloves on his hands.

'I am going to get fired.' Roxas thought, looking from the shocked man to his quietly seething boss. The restaurant itself seemed to hold its breath. The silence was finally cut by the redhead laughing uproariously and clapping him on the shoulder.

"Damn Xemnas, you got some feisty new staff in." The young man grinned and turned to face Roxas' employer, who stared at the pair of them with cold anger.

"I believe I expressed the wish that you not make any more unexpected visits. Especially during our busy hours. You still have a phone if I recall correctly."

That face was lit with mischief as the man strutted towards Xemnas. "Xehanort, if I was any more expected I figure trumpets and a red carpet would be here to announce my arrival. Also, if this is your busy hour where is everyone? I miss my girls!"

"If you are referring to Kairi and Namine, they are taking their lunch right now." The hostility that Xemnas exuded seemed to roll right off the intruder's back.

"Cool, I'll head back and say hi. Demyx didn't quit yet, did he? Hey Cloud!" He waved with too much enthusiasm to be genuine to the bored looking server. "Still hooking up with Leon and Seph?" After this obvious attempt to draw attention to himself, the redhead began to strut into the back room when Roxas cut him off.

"Listen, I don't know who you think you are but-"

The man's gloved hand caught the blonde's chin and tilted his face to the side before licking a line up his cheek.

"The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"


	2. Chapter 1

Are You Crazy, Too?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters, names of things, etc.

Warning: There may be some spoilers snuck in here.

Different warning: This story will contain foul language, violence, homosexuality and sex; not necessarily in that order. There may be dashes of straight on occassion too. If you are offended by any of this please do not read. Thank you!

Chapter One

~Roxas~

The sequence of events taking place in Roxas' head as Axel brushed by him was something of a blur, but the key thoughts that emerged from it were: 'He LICKED me. I hit a customer. And failed to stop him from entering the back room. I'm going to get fired. I'm going to kill him. But he LICKED me! Who the fuck does that? ...He had tattoos on his FACE. '

These thoughts and more circled around his numb head as he was reamed out for several minutes and given a week suspension from Xemnas, who had said "Under the circumstances I completely understand, however it would set a bad example if you weren't punished for it."

Roxas nodded blankly wondering vaguely how he would manage to make up the money for this month's rent. Going back to the break room to get his things now would only make him angrier with the red head back there, but if he could just sneak back quietly without anyone having to see him…

Xemnas looked as though he had just thought the same thing and his lips quirked up in a repressed smile. "And Roxas, while you're back there please tell the others to get back to work. I can't have them back there gossiping during our busy hour now can I?"

Roxas bit the inside of his cheek to quash the profanity struggling to get out of him before nodding sharply. "Yes Sir, of course."

He walked stiffly into the back room, tensing even further at the cheerful bubbling of conversation but forcing himself to take a deep breath and move past them, trying not to notice when things went quiet. He pulled his apron over his head and shrugged on a jacket. When he turned to face them, he saw his colleagues' nervous gazes on him and the spiky haired shit stirrer with his eyes closed, leaning back on a chair.

"Roxas," Sora called out tentatively. "Are you-"

"I'm fine." Roxas spoke more sharply than he had intended and he saw his cousin's face flinch. Telling himself that he would apologise later, he addressed the rest of the group, deliberately not looking at the red head. "Uh… Mr. Xemnas would like everyone to go back to the floor." He muttered.

Turning away, he was almost to the door when he heard the sound of a chair righting itself on the ground. Axel's voice called out tauntingly. "Hey kid, do you always do what you're told? If you wanted to be Xemnas bitch all you had to do was ask, I'm sure he'd-"

Roxas didn't remember crossing the floor to where the smug bastard sat, nor did he recall jerking the taller man out of his seat. He vaguely recalled shoving the redhead against the wall with a hand at his throat however. "You listen to me. You aren't a goddamn customer, so I don't have to pretend to be nice to your annoying ass, and while I can't stop you from coming in here, if you come near me with your hands or your tongue, or hell, if you even try to talk to me you'll wish I had just given you another bruise. I don't know what your ties are to this place but you don't know the first thing about me."

He felt someone tugging on his arm and a soothing voice speaking to him. "C'mon Roxas, let go, okay? He's not worth your job. I clocked out so we can leave together. Please?" He turned his face to see Sora's anxious one calmly but firmly having him release the redhead.

Axel hadn't been fazed at all, and as Sora led the blonde away a sly grin spread over his face. He massaged his neck, taking in the damage to him that day and let out a soft chuckle.

"Roxas, huh? This should be interesting."

~Axel~

For the most part, Axel had enjoyed his time at the restaurant. Once he pushed passed the speechless blonde, he had been greeted with the enthusiastic attention of his friends. Somewhere in the midst of their chattering, Namine handed him an icepack with a gentle smile. When he raised an eyebrow she simply pointed to her cheek, and upon feeling how swollen his own was he placed it there.

"So, is the bossman still keeping you guys quarantined while I'm around?" He asked, strutting to the lunch table and sitting down in one of the chairs.

Kairi blocked his attempt to put his feet on the table. "What tipped you off? Honestly, it's like he thinks putting us back here will keep you away."

Axel snorted. "All he really did was make it so that I could see you all at once. Remind me to thank him. So, how has everything been here?" Immediately he was bombarded with at least five people talking at once. He basked in their attention. It didn't matter how long ago he had left; here, he still ruled supreme. He was introduced to the two newest dishwashers and after a bit of showboating from both he and Hayner, an easy acquaintanceship was formed.

Finally, in the brief lull between speakers, Demyx asked "So where did you get that bruise anyway? It looks painful."

Axel laughed, tilting his chair back and removing the icepack. "Yeah, that kid out front is short, but damn if he doesn't have one hell of a right hook." He quickly filled them in on the events that had taken place a few minutes prior and by the time he was finished, his blonde friend was doubled over with laughter.

"So you met Roxas, huh? Yeah, he's a firecracker alright. Did you do it to piss off Xemnas?"

The red head let his eyes drift closed and a lazy smile spread over his face. "Yeah, but with an ass and an attitude like that I might have done it anyway."

He heard Sora murmur a quiet "Aw Man, I really wish you hadn't done that." Before everything went quiet.

Axel didn't have to open his eyes to know that the blonde from earlier was in the back room with all his indignant fury. He heard Sora start to ask after the kid and the blonde's snappish reply.

"Mr. Xemnas would like everyone to go back on the floor."

The people around Axel shifted to leave and a crease formed between his eyebrows. He opened his eyes and let his chair fall forward, calling out a taunt. If he was entirely honest with himself it was because he wanted to test the boundaries of what the kid would put up with. He realised his mistake as soon as Roxas' posture changed, and before he knew it he was lifted out of the chair as easily as a ragdoll by his neck and forced against the wall. It was a good thing that the blonde didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything but what he was saying because the smile that Axel had to fight to hide would have surely set him off further.

When Sora finally pulled the raging blonde off, throwing a firm glare in Axel's direction before grabbing his own coat and leaving, all Axel could feel was impressed. The kid had a spine. He was more than just some brow beaten lackey of Xemnas. He was strong. Axel frowned slightly, massaging his neck before plastering a new grin on his face. On to business.

Xemnas and Saix were waiting for him in the manager's office and when he opened the door they were already facing it.

"That was quite a spectacle you made of yourself today. I hope you will take responsibility for the patrons you caused to leave."

Axel let out a barking laugh. "Well you know if it pisses you off it makes my damn day. Anyway, Larx says you've been ringing the phone of the hook at my store, so I figured I'd drop by and see what you wanted."

Saix visibly tensed. "You should speak with more respect when addressing Mr. Xemnas."

"Why?" Axel shot back. "It's not like I work here anymore. You can't hope to contr-"

"How dare you speak about him like this after all he's done for-"

"All he's done? Let me count the things he's-"

"Enough." Xemnas spoke quietly but almost instantly the other two fell silent. "I did not call him here to harass him about respect, Saix. I simply wish to express my concern with Axel's café and how he is using the money that was left to him."

"Well thanks for your concern _Sir, _but it isn't necessary. The café and I are doing just fine. Larx and Marly are doing fine too, you know, just in case you're concerned about them too."

Saix looked as though he was going to spit out another comment, but a stern look from Xemnas kept him quiet. Instead, the manager said "I've said all that I wanted to, and now I must ask you to leave, unless you are actually going to buy a meal here."

Axel ignored the rejection, and instead said: "So tell me about Roxas."

Xemnas had turned back to his paperwork but Saix couldn't quite hide a smug smile. "You mean the boy who received a week suspension? Why would he hold any interest for you?"

Axel forced his face to stay relaxed. "A week suspension? Why?" He was almost positive he heard a tiny snort from the blue haired man and the grin dropped off his face. "Oh. You did it because of me."

"Don't be silly. He struck a customer. He is lucky to be getting off this lightly." The papers rustled as Xemnas straightened them.

Axel clenched his right hand briefly to keep his temper level. "But I'm not a customer. You know that."

"Do I? I must have forgotten." The manager finally looked up again with a cruel smile. "I suppose that's just one more person you've hurt with your recklessness. Pity." He stood and stretched. "I need to go back to the floor so I'm afraid you need to leave now, but don't be a stranger. You know I love calls from my favourite nephew."

"I'm NOT your-"

"Saix will show you out."

And before he could object further, the assistant manager had gripped his shoulder and was hauling him out. Saving face, he called over to Demyx. "I'll see you tonight for drinks, okay?" He winked and strode to the door with Saix.

"I do not understand why the Superior still abides your antics but the moment he becomes fed up, you and I are going to have another… talk."

Axel's mouth stretched so far that it was no longer certain whether he was smiling or grimacing. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" When a snarl began to curl Saix lip Axel leaned in so close that their noses were almost touching. "Listen, it doesn't matter how much you worship the ground that bastard walks on or how much you obey him. He'll never want you."

The blue haired man became very pale and looked away, now seeming diminished. Axel left him like that, wearing an expression that anyone who didn't know him would mistake for a smile.

~Roxas~

Roxas just sat in his apartment for a while, scratching under his wristband absentmindedly as Sora cooked him some dinner, muttering angrily as he worked until Roxas cut him off.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could just talk for a bit? It's been a while since we saw each other outside of work."

Sora smiled. "Sure. Just let me lower the heat here." Having done so, he then sat next to the despondent blonde. "You know today was total bull, right? What happened wasn't your-"

"Can we talk about something else?" Roxas cringed in remembrance.

His cousin paused but nodded. "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

Roxas thought for a moment before saying, "Tell me about you and Kairi. I'll interrupt when I'm ready."

The brunette looked pensive. "Well, when Riku left in high school, I missed him a lot. He was my best friend, you know? I mean… he visits every now and then but- sorry you asked about Kairi. I was upset and she asked if I wanted to go out. So now we are. There really isn't the much of a story there actually. We go out on dates sometimes, but we usually just see each other at the restaurant. I'm just happy to keep one of my best friends close. Are you-"

"What the fuck was with that guy?" Roxas blurted out angrily. "I don't understand him at all but everyone there loves him! Who is he?"

Sora was giving him an exasperated smile that said 'That didn't take long.' "Axel worked there a long time ago. Even as a kid he would always run around in there because he had relatives associated with the place."

"And when you say associated you mean…?" His cousin chewed his lip until finally replying.

"He's uh… He's Ansem's adopted son."

"What? That asshole is…. WHAT?" Roxas rubbed his fingers through his hair furiously. "That- I….fuck." He exhaled heavily. "Okay. That explains how well he knows everyone I guess, but with Ansem as a father how did he turn out that way?"

"He's not that bad once you get to know him."

"Sora, that guy is the reason I got suspended today. How am I going to pay my rent? I can barely afford this place as it is." Roxas slouched, pulling his knees into his chest.

The brunette got up and stirred the soup in the pot before suggesting his next thought. "You could always ask your Dad for money."

"No."

"But Roxas-"

"I'll find another way."

The two boys were quiet as Sora poured the soup into two bowls. Roxas got up and set the table before murmuring "So why _does_ Axel do that stuff?"

"He's had a pretty rough life. I feel like he does the things he does to show everyone that he's okay. Maybe he needs to show himself too."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Lots of people have had rough lives and they don't act like that. Name one thing that's so different about him." He began drinking his soup.

A small smile crossed Sora's face. "Well for one, he's the rightful owner of the restaurant."

It had been nice soup. A shame that it ended up on the floor.

end chapter one

So how was that? This is the official chapter one, and I was going to post it on Friday, but then I thought why not post it early? And here we are. I hope you have enjoyed AYC,T? So far and as per usual with my stories, the chapters will beging to get longer from here on in. To my charming reviewer:

FatefullDestiny: I'm glad you like it! I hope the story continues to appeal to you this much!

Okay guys, until next time! The next chapter should be finished and up in a week or two. Thanks again and please continue to read, review, and enjoy!


	3. Chapter 2

Are You Crazy Too?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters, names of things, etc.

Warning: There may be some spoilers snuck in here.

Different warning: This story will contain foul language, violence, homosexuality and sex; not necessarily in that order. There may be dashes of straight on occassion too. If you are offended by any of this please do not read. Thank you!

Warning you now that this chapter starts with sex, fairly non graphic but I didn't want to just spring it on you.

Chapter 2

~Axel~

Axel's world was made of heat, tangled blankets and panting breaths. A delicate mouth closed over his and a tongue traced its way up his spine. He shivered almost feverishly as he kissed back, allowing himself to be entered and in turn fill another. Deep gasping moans drifted from their mouths as breasts, cocks and mouths worked together in a lustful rhythm.

When it was over the redhead crawled out from between the two others and dressed quickly. A disgruntled groan worked its way out of the woman's throat as she propped herself up. "Way to kill the moment Axel. Where are you going?"

He grinned at her, checking his reflection in the mirror before raking his fingers through his hair. "I've got some stuff to do, not to mention none of us cleaned up tonight. See you guys later."

"Hold on, I'm coming with you." Came the other voice from the bed. A lean man swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I need to go anyway. My other job starts in an hour. Sorry Larxene."

Her lip curled back. "Yeah, I'm sure. Always the same story with you guys. Well if you two aren't going to stay, why the hell should I?" She got out of bed and pulled a t-shirt over her head before storming into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Axel raised his eyebrows. "You think she'll be okay?"

The other man remained blank faced. "I don't particularly care. Don't worry about her though, she's Larxene. If she is not angry about one thing or another at least five times a day she would feel unfulfilled. She almost didn't reach her quota. We helped her." His lips quirked upwards in a half smirk. "Better do whatever you need to quickly _Boss_, you're opening tomorrow." He pulled his hair into a ponytail. "And Axel?"

The redhead stopped short of the door. "Yeah?"

A broad hand wound around his waist and rubbed against his groin causing him to bite back a low moan. "You should become emotionally damaged more often. This was fun."

Axel pulled away abruptly, giving the man a searching look before finally tightening his mouth into a makeshift grin. "Thanks Marluxia, I'll keep that in mind."

"I still can't believe you." Said Demyx, taking a drink of Axel's whisky in the bar. "They work for you now; you can't just go back to them every time you feel down. It's unprofessional and they aren't good people."

"And I am?" Axel grabbed the drink back, downing it. "I… That kid today, I was having fun. Yeah I probably went too far but that's all it was, and now Xemnas is making him an example… sort of like he made her."

"Woah, back up there Axel, are you that worried about this?" The blonde ordered another few drinks.

The red head scowled at his beverage. "Alcohol makes me think about responsibility and consequences. Xemnas aside, did I cross a line today?"

Demyx shrugged. "Roxas has been ready to tear something apart for a while now. Part of me worries about the guy but I don't really know him that well. I think he lives alone but I can't be sure; I know for a fact he's Sora's cousin. Who knows how long he'll last in Organization XIII though?"

Axel sipped his drink before frowning again. "You know what I just realized? I care about this more than I have any reason to. Something about this whole incident is bugging me. You still have access to the list of employee information, right? Where does he live?"

"No Axel."

"What do you mean "No"?"

"I mean don't get involved with this guy. It feels like bad news."

Green eyes narrowed. "I'm just going to talk to him Dem, that's all."

The blonde looked away. "You're going to talk to him drunk. No one makes good decisions while drunk."

"I'm not going to rape the kid! Just tell me where he lives!" Axel had spoken louder than he meant to and he saluted the staring bar patrons before standing and dragging Demyx outside with him.

"Hey, I didn't get to finish my-"

"Rocky or whatever his name is is in this pickle because of me, I want to set it right. Come on Demyx, how often do I want to do a good deed?"

The blonde chewed his lip, shivering in the late autumn air. "If I tell you then you have to take full responsibility, NOT get mad at me later or tell Roxas it was me who told you, got it?"

"Sure, fine. Address?"

Demyx paused. 'I am going to get in so much trouble for this.' He thought glumly before answering. "1308 Traverse Street. Room 21."

"Traverse Street… You mean like downtown in one of the apartment complexes?" With a nod as his confirmation Axel went back inside, threw back his whisky and started out.

"Hang on. You aren't going to drive are you? You're kind of-"

"Drunk? Just a little, but no, I'm going to walk it. Only a crazy person would drive like this, and I'm not crazy, got it memorized?" And with that, Demyx watched Axel stagger down the street to start the half hour walk to Roxas' apartment… in the wrong direction.

"Crazy? You? Never." The blonde grumbled as he jogged after him.

~Roxas~

Burning. Choking black smoke filling his lungs as he gasped for air. They weren't going to get to him in time. He was going to burn alive in this house. He could hear the fireman pounding on his door and a familiar voice calling his name but… hang on, that wasn't the fireman's gruff voice, that was-

Roxas jolted awake to heavy pounding on his door. Grabbing a baseball bat he used specifically for instances like this he moved silently to the door. Gripping his weapon tightly he called out. "Who's there?" He chanced a glance through the peephole and saw the redhead from earlier that day. "You've got to be kidding me." He groaned.

"Uh, Kid? Roxas? It's me, Axel, from earlier today? I need to talk to you, let me in!" He pounded on the door again and the blonde glanced at the time.

"Shit." 3:36 glowed at him from his bedside. If this kept up much longer his neighbours would call in to complain. He opened the door and jerked the man inside, not releasing his grip on the bat with the other hand. "I warned you about coming near me, so if you're gonna talk, do it fast before I call the cops. What the hell do you want?" Roxas hissed at the redhead on the floor. He took in Axel's dishevelled appearance and the smell of alcohol that hung around him, almost causing the blonde to gag.

"I wanted to see how you were doing." Axel said, looking up at him blearily. Already one of those stupid grins was making its way over the redhead's face.

"At three thirty in the morning?" Roxas asked, jabbing his finger at the clock. He saw the man's face fall with realization and… remorse? Well, wasn't that interesting? The blonde set the bat down cautiously. "I'm doing pretty badly thanks to you. You probably heard already but I got a week long suspension… God you stink."

"Yeah, I know." Axel nodded, getting to his feet. "I had sex… then went out for drinks with Demyx, and now…"

"And now you're here in my home which thanks to you I probably won't be able to afford for another month." The taller man scratched his head and nodded.

"I kind of came by to see if there was anything I could do. Xemnas is… well-"

"Unless you can come up with a way for me to make money that doesn't involve prostitution, then no." Roxas scratched his left arm uncomfortably, trying to look anywhere but at Axel. "Could you please just go?"

Axel gave him a probing look that eventually drifted into something more sheepish. "I would, but I sort of left my car at the bar."

Instantly Roxas was on his guard. "You can't stay here, my landlord won't allow-"

"Can I use your shower?"

The blonde gaped. "Are you kidding me right now? No you can't use my damn shower! If this is some weird little seduction game you're playing then you should know that it's not going to-"

And Axel vomited. Right there on the floor. Roxas gagged at the sheer amount of liquid that this man had consumed earlier and ran to the bathroom before getting sick himself. He came out to see that Axel hadn't moved from that spot and was wearing the most pathetic expression Roxas had seen in a while.

'_I'm going to regret this.'_ Roxas thought before beckoning him over.

"Roxas, Kid, I am so sorry!"

"Get out of those clothes."

Axel's eyebrows shot up. "S'cuse me?"

"I'm going to wash them while you shower, Idiot. Stop looking at me like that!" He flushed, realizing what it had sounded like. "Just shower and I'll clean this up." He went back into the bathroom and dug out a surgical mask from his first aid kit to keep the smell out before ushering Axel in and closing the door behind him. "Uh, hand them out when you're ready I guess." A few minutes later, the bile stained clothes came through the door and Roxas made a face. "The gloves too." He heard the redhead mumble something incoherent. "What?"

"I'm keeping the gloves. I'll wash them in here."

"No, they won't get clean like that. You'll get them back as soon as they're washed properly, I promise." There was more muffled mumbling before the door opened another crack and the gloves were flung out. Roxas stifled a chuckle before murmuring "Thanks."

The next twenty minutes or so passed quietly, the blonde getting more and more tired as he mopped up the floor and washed the disgusting garments in the sink. He had just gone back to knock on the door when it opened to reveal a barely towel clad Axel. The two froze for a moment, Roxas' eyes glued to the older man's bare torso before Axel said "You got a robe?"

"Yeah! Uh, yes. Just a second." He ran to his room and tore through his closet with his mind buzzing, the only word it kept coming back to was, "Wow."

When he came back to the bathroom Axel began speaking without looking at him. "Okay so as it really is sort of my fault you're not getting paid for the next week, I've come up with a solution: Work for me."

"What?" Roxas turned away red faced when Axel dropped the towel and slid on the robe. "I told you I'm not doing prostitution, or is this a cute way of telling me that you can get my suspension lifted?"

The redhead let a tiny bitter smile cross his face. "So Sora told you, huh? Well sorry Kiddo but that's not what I meant. I don't have that kind of power, but since you know the restaurant was left to me you should know that. It's not mine anymore, but don't despair Roxas! I've got a place of my own and we're understaffed. You'd pretty much be doing the same thing you are at Organization XIII, but I'd be paying you a little bit extra for it." The bitterness drizzled away and the smile became genial, all teeth.

Roxas observed him thoughtfully, eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you still drunk? How do I know that you'll follow through with this?"

"Roxy! You wound me! Tell you what, come in with me in the morning and we'll open it up together."

The blonde, still not convinced, asked "What's the catch?"

Axel ran his fingers through his rapidly drying hair. Already the spikes were rising back up, though more tangled and unkempt than they had been earlier. "Well, you'll have to put up with the other staff members for one. Larxene is a bitch and Marluxia is a calculating asshole but they're both good at what they do. The problem is that they like to find your weak points and jab them to see what happens. Then there's me, and you already know that I'm a whole mess of trouble. Can't really promise you won't get sexually harassed either, the faces you make are just too funny, but if you can put up with all that for a week then I guarantee you you'll get paid the amount I promised."

"Well since you make it sound so appealing." Roxas said sarcastically before pulling the sopping wet clothes from the sink and wringing them out.

"If I ever go too far with my teasing then you can feel free to hit me without penalty." Axel yawned, eyes blinking rapidly to keep him awake.

The blonde exhaled in a long gust of air. "I still might need some time to think on it. When do you guys open?"

The redhead glanced at the clock. "In about three hours." Cutting the gaping boy off before he could protest he asked "If I promise not to do anything can I crash here for the rest of the night?"

Roxas felt a swell of exhausted irritation rise in his chest but he forced it back down and nodded sharply. "Sure, you can crash on the couch until your clothes dry; try not to get any ideas though, alright?" The red head chuckled but bit his lip as though dying to ask something else. "What?"

"This is going to sound weird but can I get my gloves back? I don't really care if they're wet or whatever."

"No way, the damp will make your hands swell up inside them. Why do you need gloves?" Blue eyes darted to the hands that Axel quickly jammed in to the pockets of the robe. He looked up at the red head's kicked puppy expression and couldn't even bring himself to groan. "Give me a second." He went back to the closet and dug through his winter clothes pulling out a pair of black leather gloves before he dragged out another set of blankets. 'Too nice for my own good. Dammit.'

"Alright Axel, I meant what I said earlier. Don't get any funny ideas or I'll kill you… n' stuff." His jaw cracked unpleasantly in a yawn.

Roxas handed the things over, making a show of closing his eyes so that the redhead could take his hands out of his pockets to accept them. He was too tired to be curious but he still wished he'd paid a bit more attention to those hands when they were combing themselves through that hair. He briefly wondered if Axel dyed it before telling himself that he was too tired to be thinking anything along those lines. If he kept thinking that way he might drift into territory in his own mind that he wasn't entirely comfortable with.

He felt Axel's face near his but it was still a shock when he opened his eyes to see that the taller man was staring at him that closely. He jerked back instinctively, raising a fist in silent warning until the red head back off to the couch.

"Thanks for the gloves Kid." Axel mumbled, wrapping himself in the blanket and lying down on the couch.

"You're welcome, and don't call me Kid." Roxas shuffled into his bed, turning off the light. He closed his eyes and sighed contentedly.

"Roxas?"

"Mm?"

"Where did you get that scar on your arm?"

There was a sharp intake of breath in the darkness before Roxas' voice cut through the air with a tone of finality. "Goodnight Axel."

~Axel~

The smell of fair trade coffee was what woke the red head two and a half hours later, though he fought to stay asleep under the blanket. He wrapped it tighter around himself, wondering vaguely why his bed felt so lumpy. He rolled over to get comfortable and fell on the floor, spilling out of his blankets in front of a pair of feet.

Large blue eyes stared down at him before the arc of pain rippled through his head. Axel let out a harsh hissing sound as he clamped his hands over his eyes. "Too bright…" He groaned out, curling into a tight ball until a gentle shade of darkness fell over the room. Cracking an eye open he saw that Roxas was hanging bedsheets over the windows in place of curtains.

"We don't have a lot of time or I might've let you sleep longer. Here," The blonde had crouched down and Axel reached over to accept the glass of water that was handed to him. That was right... he had spent the night here after harassing the kid yet again. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the glass. "Uh, Axel? Look, we only have about twenty minutes to get to wherever this place is in time for you to open." Axel let out a small noise of acknowledgement.

"Pills?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Oh! Yeah, hang on." The kid was nice. Nicer than he had any reason to be.

'No.' Axel told himself grimly. 'A little sympathy is fine but that's as far as this goes. I'm Axel fucking Flurry, and I am not going to fall into another goddamn tra-'

"Axel?" The redhead looked back up at those round blue eyes and grinned. He could make this fun. Nothing had to change. "I brought your clothes and some meds but we have to go now."

He stood and dropped his robe, feeling a surge of power as the boy spun away and cursed. "Thanks for looking after me last night Roxy, let me know if I can ever make it up to you." He pulled on his clothes and put his lips next to Roxas' ear, fighting off the hangover. "We should go."

The blonde jumped before turning around and jamming the painkillers into Axel's waiting hand and grabbing his keys. Axel chuckled as he was dragged out of the apartment and down to the bus stop. "So where is this place?" He mumbled.

"Not far from here actually." Axle squinted against the light and looked around. He let out a disbelieving laugh. "Not far at all. Come on." He grabbed Roxas' arm, feeling the smaller man tense as he turned left, pulled him down two blocks, then right down three more. He squinted again, peering around the densely populated downtown area. Things always looked different, harsher during a hangover, not to mention he was coming at it from a different angle but if he could just remember... "Through there." He muttered, pointing to an alley. He moved forward but soon realised that he wasn't being followed.

Roxas had dug his heels in and was giving Axle a very dangerous glare. "What are you trying to pull here? You're taking me through an alley? Are you serious?"

Axel shrugged easily. Fine, if the kid didn't want to trust him then he couldn't help that. "Alright, see you later then. Come find me if you change your mind." And with that, he walked down the crooked path and out of sight, thanking whatever deity was out there that the rest of the way was shaded. Soft footsteps followed him after a while and he smiled, not bothering to look back so as not to spook the kid. Finally, the way cleared to reveal an out of the way street with a large cafe at the end.

If one were to look at the base, they would think that it was smaller than average, but as the eyes drifted up they would see that the building took on an odd, almost twisted shape with decorative spiky protrusions that almost looked like black and white rose vines without blossoms. The building itself was a pearly grey that Axel had picked out himself and in spiky electric blue lettering, the words _Castle Oblivion_ stood out in sharp contrast. He squashed the grin that threatened to take over his face when he heard the exhale of awe coming from behind him. "Oh, so you're still here are you?" He still didn't turn, instead pulling out his keys from his pocket and noting silently that Roxas must have taken them out while washing his pants. Smart kid.

The door swung open with a gentle jingling of bells and Axel stepped in, gesturing the blonde to follow and flicking on lights as he went through. "This is our floor area; it's a lot smaller than what you'll be used to from the restaurant but it gets the job done. It also gets just as busy in here so even though it's smaller you'll have about the same or more work to do depending on the day. I'm hiring an old friend who's coming back into town soon and he'll pick up the slack but he might not even get here by the time you go back to the big O thirteen. You may be asked to take orders and work the cash machine but Marluxia and Larxene will teach you what to do there. You probably won't see me a lot as I'll be in the back. Follow me."

He took Roxas to the kitchen area with the dishwashing station and the oven and turned to face him, placing his hand on the oven and letting the smile drop from his face. "This is mine. You don't use it, you don't touch it. If someone makes a special request and I'm on the floor you come and get me, you don't try to make it yourself." The blonde was already looking at the behemoth of an oven nervously but Axel took it as a natural reaction to seeing him actually act like an employer. Instantly the grin was back on his face. "Right, so I'm going to have you help me set up some of our food displays, show you the bathrooms, the coffee makers, etc and by then we should have some customers already so you can get to work. I'll show you the freezer."

Roxas mouth dropped open. "Hang on, that's it? Your only rule is 'don't touch the oven'?"

Axel nodded, leading the blonde over to the freezer near the back door. "The rest is just common sense. It's just like I said, things here aren't going to be much different from Organization XIII. Now help me move the cheesecake." The redhead showed Roxas everything he needed to do, pleased by how quickly the kid picked up on things. Finally, when Axel turned on the "Open" light, Roxas seemed relaxed enough to talk more.

"Can I ask you a question? At least until Customers start coming?"

"Sure, also, I'm not sure if you just wore black on impulse today but keep doing it. Anything black is sort of our unofficial dress code here."

A real smile curved Roxas' lips and he let out a soft laugh. "I figured. So, how did you get this place if you couldn't have the restaurant?"

The red head winced. "You don't really start with the small questions do you? Okay, when Ansem died, in his will he wrote that I was going to inherit Kingdom Hearts and about half of his money when I came of age, but Xemnas got a lawyer who brought up charges that had been dropped a long time ago. You've probably guessed already, but I haven't always been this nice. I've had a few cases in the past..." He shook his head. "Point is he had me declared mentally unfit to own and operate the Kingdom Hearts, so it went to good old Mansex- don't look at me like that you've thought it too. I've had a lot of the verdicts appealed since then but it was a little late to try to seize the restaurant back. Xemnas did give me the honour of continuing to work there until one day I got fed up and walked out for good. Bastard tried to get my money too, but I proved to the court that I was sane enough to handle the cash. One day, I walked past this place and the guy running it needed help, so I brought my talents here for a few years, and when he retired he left the place to me and told me I could do what I wanted with it."

Axel frowned. "He was a good man, and we trusted each other. Of course, Xemnas and his lawyer didn't like that at all, so they tried to take this place from me, too. Maybe it was out of spite, I don't know, but it didn't work. They at least got a few restrictions put on me though. A few things I have to prove to the jury over a set amount of time, a few profit margins I have to meet, and a few things I'm just plain not allowed to do. So I closed the place down and between Larx, Marly and me, we redesigned it. It took almost all of my money, but slowly and surely I've been getting it back. We've got a customer Roxas, smile and act cute." He tossed him a damp cloth before smacking him on the ass and dodging the blow aimed in his direction.

As he retreated to the kitchen, the redhead mused, 'Well that was weird. I don't usually get that wordy; I'll have to watch that.' He heard the other two come in after a while and greeted Marluxia with a nod as the pink haired man walked into the kitchen.

"I see you've hired someone new. He seems... interesting."

Axel nodded easily. "That was my first impression of him too, but he'll only be working here for a week. Anyway, I need you back on the floor, I'm writing up the next two weeks schedules so come see me on your lunch break if you want any specific times."

An odd smile passed Marluxia's face. "It is just as well that he's only here for the week. Larxene doesn't seem to like him very much, but then, you know her irrational behaviour; especially when it concerns you. The poor boy looked utterly lost when she first started in on him. I wonder if he'll even make it to the end of the week at this rate."

"Well then you won't mind teaching him what he doesn't know, and keeping out of the way of the worst of Larxene's bullying. He's made of tougher stuff than he looks and he might even-" Axel was cut off by the ringing slap that seemed to echo into the kitchen from the floor area. "Shit!" He hissed, running out to see who had hit whom and hoping beyond hope that he hadn't been wrong about the kid.

When he got out there, he saw Larxene still heaving in anger from the blow she had just given the boy. Roxas, to his credit, hadn't dropped a single plate, but now had a hugely smug expression on his face. Axel grabbed them both and hauled them into the kitchen, sending Marluxia out.

"Does anyone want to tell me what the FUCK just happened?" The redhead seethed, trying to ignore the way the boy's eyes seemed bright with a very familiar defiance. 'It's not cute if he's causing trouble!' He reminded himself.

"Sorry Sir, we just had a misunderstanding. I think it's all cleared up now, so if I could get back to work?" Roxas appeared to be trying to hide his smile and so Axel simply dragged a hand down his own face and muttered a quick dismissal from the back room. After he was gone however the redhead rounded on the woman.

"Why are you causing problems already Larx? It's barely ten in the damn morning! You can't just hit my new employees because they make you mad! Do you want to tell me what happened out there?"

Larxene pursed her lips irritably. "I don't like him Axel. He's got an attitude... and the way he says things! I mean, I was just making some innocent observations and he made a completely unnecessary comment. Still..." She admitted reluctantly. "The kid has a spine. That's more than I can say for most of the people from the original restaurant." She fidgeted under Axel's gaze before speaking stiffly. "I'm sorry I acted up so early today _Sir_. I'll try to keep my temper in check in front of the customers."

"Thank you. You can go back out now but I'd like to see the kid back here again when he has a minute." He grinned at her incredulous look. "Try not to be too harsh on the kid Larx, he may be strong, but he's not unbreakable."

The blonde woman stared at him hard before walking out, and a few minutes later, Roxas stepped in, though he'd lost some of the swagger he had with Larxene. "Before you say anything, I want to apologise for causing the scene on the floor. I was wrong to rise to her bait and egg her on. If you still want to fire me then that's-"

"Fire you?" Axel laughed "Who the hell said anything about- Oh." He ran his hand through his hair, irritated. Of course she did." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I'm not going to fire you because of that, the type of customers we draw more or less expect things like that to happen here. I think they figure it makes them edgy, but I'm getting off topic. Larxene more or less admitted that she started it, and honestly I was just curious to know what happened to make us bruise buddies."

"Oh." Blue eyes watched him suspiciously. "Really?"

"No, I lied, get back to work. Yes really!" He leaned forward, putting his face close to the blonde's and watched Roxas tense up again. This was too much fun.

"Fine, but don't think what I said to her means anything. She came in a little bit before the pink haired guy and saw me. For a minute she was all smiles but even then there was something sort of mean about it. We talked about the job for a while and she asked how I came to work here so I told her about last night. Not everything obviously but she started getting mad and said: 'Oh, so that's where he went afterwards. You must have some talent I'm not seeing because Axel wouldn't leave my bed for you. You're not his type.'

"So, uh... I said 'Axel was hitting on me earlier today but I told him I wasn't interested right then. I guess you look enough like me to get him off though, so it's a good thing you have a boyish figure.'" Roxas chewed his lower lip, all confidence gone from his face. "That's when she hit me. I get that I deserved it and I'm going to apologise, but- why are you laughing?"

Tears of mirth formed in Axel's eyes as he doubled over in an attempt to quiet his laughter. Gasping for air, he finally managed to straighten again, clapping his hand down on Roxas' shoulder. "That... was the funniest thing... I've heard... in a really, REALLY... long time. For that, you deserve a little something extra today. After we close up I want you to stick around for a while. I want to take you somewhere."

"Like, a date?" Roxas asked cautiously. "Because I'm not-"

"No Kid, like a friend."

A small smile spread over the blonde's face. "Just as well, I'm sort of worried that I actually might be your type."

"Oh?" Axel raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly is my type?"

"Completely insane." Roxas said, good humour renewed. "See you after work."

"See you." Said Axel as he watched the blonde head out of the room. He let out a low chuckle. _'That kid is much smarter than he lets on. Maybe that's why I get the feeling he's going to be my downfall.'_

End Chapter Two

Woo! Longer chapter. Hopefully it's getting more interesting for you guys! Now, school is catching up with me so it might be another three weeks before the next chapter is up.

To my wonderful reviewers!

FatefullDestiny: I'm really happy that you're sticking around to see what happens! It'll be good, I promise.

blood as soft as silk: Glad you're enjoying it so far! Thanks for the review!

Alright guys! Hope you've enjoyed everything so far, feel free to let me know how I'm doing! Until then, please continue to read, review and enjoy.


	4. Chapter 3

Are you Crazy Too?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters, names of things, etc.

Warning: There may be some spoilers snuck in here.

Different warning: This story will contain foul language, violence, homosexuality and sex; not necessarily in that order. There may be dashes of straight on occasion too. If you are offended by any of this please do not read. Thank you!

Chapter 3

~Roxas~

The rest of the day passed without issue, and when five o'clock hit and the last customer had left Axel poked his head around the door of the kitchen. Roxas was sitting at one of the tables he had just cleaned, resting his feet after the nine hour shift.

"Give me five more minutes and we'll go." The redhead called out. Roxas just nodded, too tired to argue or offer help. Marluxia stopped by him on the way out.

"You did well for your first day. Your only drawback appears to be the coffee machine, and I would be only too happy to take that over now that I do not need to clean the tables myself for a week." The tall man smiled serenely and put a hand on Roxas shoulder. "I certainly hope that you make Axel happy... As happy as he allows himself to be. Have a good night."

Once Roxas managed to process what had been said, he opened his mouth to protest but the pink haired man was gone. Instead he felt a delicate finger tap him on the shoulder. "Congrats." Larxene spoke, twirling a lock of her hair around her fingers. "It looks like you aren't completely useless after all."

"Uh, thanks." He replied, not wanting to incite her to more violence.

"Whatever Kid, just don't let it go to your head. I still can't figure out why he hired you, you know, besides the obvious."

"Larxene, I haven't slept with Axel."

The woman chortled behind her hand like an old British dame might. "Not what I meant at all. Good to know though. No, he hired you because you don't fit at the other place, or anywhere really. This cafe is a place for people who don't belong. Have you even seen our customers? Poor little boy, did you think it was because he lurrved you? So sorry to disappoint, but Axel doesn't love anyone, let alone little boys with a crush."

"But I don't-"

"Sure. I'm not the one you're going to have to prove it to though. Buh bye!" She gave him a condescending pat on the head as Axel came out of the kitchen and threw a wink the redhead's way before sweeping out of the building.

Axel handed Roxas the leather gloves he had borrowed, now wearing his own again. "Ready to go, Roxas?"

Roxas nodded despondently and stood, good mood ruined. "Where are we headed?"

"You'll see when we get there." The taller man switched off the Open sign and ushered the blonde out onto the street. "Think you can trust me this time?"

Another nod. Roxas only needed to make sure that Axel stayed in front of him to walk straight. He let his mind wander to what his two new colleagues had said. He had always shied away from thinking of men as attractive simply because it wasn't the socially acceptable. This was stupid. The others were definitely trying to get a rise out of him, though Marluxia seemed infinitely nicer than Larxene. It was as though she was only happy when she was irritating someone else. She also seemed to have a thing for Axel (and if she was to be believed that "thing" was mutual) which was even more bad news as both she and Marluxia thought that they were having sex.

'I met him yesterday.' Roxas thought irritably 'And between getting me suspended and vomiting in my apartment he hasn't exactly made a good impression so why the hell would I-.' Despite the mild change in Axel's behaviour towards him, Roxas still felt overly wary. Was he supposed to trust this guy after two days? It was irrational given their first and second meetings, but everyone back at the restaurant seemed to trust him, to like him. 'Is there something wrong with me? Of course there is but-' He hadn't realized that Axel had stopped walking and consequently bumped into him.

"Easy there Tiger, we're here. Well, sort of. We still have to climb but I gotta grab something. You go on ahead and I'll be up in a minute." The redhead grinned and winked to punctuate his statement.

Roxas looked around, seeing that their walk had brought them to the station plaza but the only thing left to climb was... "The tower?"

"Yeah, why? You afraid of heights?"

"No, but-"

"Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise. I'll see you up there, Kid."

Roxas waited a long moment before finally starting to climb. While there were no actual steps, no one stopped people from climbing on the sturdy building, though few did anymore. The blonde was not entirely thrilled by the prospect of being atop a building with a potentially fatal fall and a man whose vomit he'd spent the last night cleaning, but he decided to give Axel the benefit of the doubt. This man was after all trying to make up for everything that had happened. Not that that made him an entirely good person. It was too confusing, and so Roxas vowed to withhold all further judgements until he knew enough to form a proper opinion of the man.

With a quick hop up, he had reached the balcony and what he saw almost took his breath away. A gorgeous gold and red sunset glowed across the sky; just dim enough that it did not blind him and just bright enough that the warmth in the light was almost palpable.

"Amazing isn't it?" Came the now familiar voice of Axel behind him. He started, whipping around to see the spiky haired man holding up two sticks of ice cream. "Pretty soon now it'll be too cold to do this anymore, so I figured, better get it in while we can, right?"

Roxas took the ice cream that was offered to him tentatively before sitting down and swinging his legs over the edge. "...I just don't get you." He said finally.

"What's there to get?" Asked the redhead sitting beside him.

"Just... everything. I never know what to think about you. Why did you bring me here?"

"To show you the sunset." Axel replied, easy as anything. "My turn. From your first day working at the cafe, what would you say is better and worse than at the Organization XIII?"

"Well, besides having Larxene at the cafe I guess I'd say the location. It's hard for customers to find who aren't looking for it. The alley is especially sketchy so people might not want to pass through there."

The redhead nodded thoughtfully. "Good points. Eat your ice cream; I want you to tell me what you think."

Roxas bit off the top of his ice cream and the first thing he could taste was salt, but before he could spit it out a gentle sweetness filled his mouth. Shocked, he looked over at Axel's grinning face and couldn't help but smile himself. "What is this?"

"Sea salt ice cream; it's my favourite flavour. Ansem got me hooked on it as a kid, but anyway, is there anything you prefer at Castle Oblivion?"

To the blonde's surprise he could think of several things off the top of his head, but only one shone above the others. "You don't have candles."

Axel laughed. "No, no we don't. That's one of my legal restrictions actually. Why don't you like candles?"

"I just don't." Roxas cursed himself for bringing the topic up in the first place, scratching under his armband furiously. "Why can't you have candles?"

"The lawyer told me pretty clearly, but it gets harder to remember the details. I think it went something like 'blah blah unsound mind blah mental state blah'. Nothing too important. Me again, why do you always look at me like I'm going to stab you and stick my dick in the wound?"

The blonde burst into a fit of helpless laughter. "Partially because you say things like that. Mostly though, it's the way you interact with people... with me. I've never really known how to interpret even casual touches, but when you start flirting and grabbing... I don't know. I guess it scares me a little because I can't figure out what it is that you want from me." He went back to his ice cream to make himself stop talking.

The redhead nodded thoughtfully though, finally saying. "Alright. I'll try not to touch you anymore. I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep my word on that but I'll give it my best shot. If you change your mind though and want to get some, you know, practice in for some special young lady, you let me know." Roxas head snapped up to the spiky haired man's shit eating grin before the taller one said, "Your turn."

Roxas looked at the darkening horizon for a while, thinking as Axel watched him. Finally he spoke. "What the hell made you decide to date Larxene? I mean, I get that you like to stick it in the crazies I guess, but-"

"Woah, woah! Back up there tiger! Date Larxene? Do I look like I have a death wish to you? Why would you think that?"

Roxas chewed his lip. "When she said 'He left my bed for you' I thought-"

A relieved sigh shot past the lips of the older man. "Thank god, I thought for a second you knew something I didn't. Yeah, I have sex with Larx sometimes but we aren't dating."

Roxas squirmed a little uncomfortably but kept his silence, waiting for the next question. Finishing his ice cream, he lay on his back to watch the first few stars come out, feigning ignorance of the redhead's continued gaze.

"I was fucking Marly too, last night. 'Course, I don't usually bottom but in that kind of situation what choice do you really have? Here's a warning for your future kid: threesomes, while fun make you really sore and are not to be done all the time."

The blonde's mouth dropped open. "Axel!" He could feel his face getting red. "I swear to god you're just doing this to get a rise out of me!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less true. I have a lot of sexual partners, Roxas. I mean, I'm pretty careful and I get checked out all the time but-"

"Oh god..." Roxas covered his face with embarrassment. The quaver in the redhead's voice as he tried not to laugh increased the more he spoke.

"Hell, I've probably had sex with a lot of people you know. It's not that big of a town."

A groan forced its way from between Roxas' hands. "Dammit Axel!" He heard the other man burst out laughing before he felt the thud of the redhead falling down next to him. Chancing a glance beside him, he saw Axel's eyes streaming in mirth.

Finally, when the man's laughter had faded into soft chuckles, he smiled. "You're just too fun to tease Xion."

Something tense filled the air then and Roxas turned his head just in time to see Axel sitting bolt upright, jaw clenching. "Who's Xion?" He sat up and the redhead jumped to his feet. "Axel? I asked-"

"It's getting dark Kid, we should go." And before Roxas could even stand Axel was halfway down the building.

"Hey!" He jumped up and scrambled down the side of the building. When he finally got to the bottom Roxas was relieved to see that the spiky haired man had not entirely abandoned him in the dark. He expected Axel to hit on him and tell him a joke, but the man was just standing there. It was then that Roxas looked a little closer and realized that the reason Axel hadn't bolted wasn't out of any loyalty to Roxas; it was because he simply hadn't thought to. Eyes glazed over, staring at the sky the redhead finally picked up on the fact that he was being watched and a very fast grin snapped into place.

"Sorry about that Roxy, forgot you were there. Do you need me to walk you back to your apartment?" The grin was straining.

"No, I think I'll be fine; but if it's okay, I do have on last question. Why do you always smile when you aren't happy?"

The grin finally broke. "Goodnight Roxas." He murmured, and before Roxas could say anything else, the taller man had already faded into the night in his hurry to get away.

'That was odd,' he thought as he retraced his steps back to the dark cafe, and then through the alley. He kept his apartment keys between his knuckles for protection as he wondered about Xion, and what this person could have meant for the redhead to have reacted that way. "It's not my place to ask, he just took me up for ice cream; we aren't friends." He felt stupid, he had already formed an impression of Axel and it hadn't been a good one. Roxas just wanted... he didn't even know. 'I don't want anything.' He told himself firmly. 'He lets me have my secrets, the least I can do is give him his.'

Had he been paying attention, he would have seen the light under his door before he unlocked it shocked out of his reverie by the flood of light that greeted him. Stepping in cautiously, he looked around with his keys back between his knuckles. A man was sitting rigidly on his couch, sharp boned face devoid of any emotion. He had long wheat blonde hair and piercing green eyes, but unlike Axel's, they held no spark of wicked humour, only cold calculation.

He closed the door and relaxed his grip on the keys before guiltily straightening his posture. "What are you doing here Dad?"

~Axel~

Axel shouldn't have left Roxas there in the dark. Somewhere in his head he knew that but he couldn't bring himself to care. The grin was gone and all he could think was. 'Stupid stupid STUPID! How the hell could I have called him Xion! Shit!' Variations of this ran through his head as he tore through the now almost pitch black streets, not knowing where he was going until he reached a familiar door and pounded on it, hyperventilating to get air back into his lungs as the door swung open revealing a diminutive young man with a sour expression.

"I need to talk to Demyx." The redhead wheezed out.

"Demyx is sleeping, go away." The smaller man brushed the long bangs out of his face before he was shoved out of the way by the blonde man, who, after taking one glance at Axel pulled him in.

"Axel what is it? Are you okay?"

The redhead allowed himself to lean on Demyx, still panting. "It's that kid..."

"Axel, I did warn you not to sleep with him."

"I didn't." He whispered hoarsely. "I gave him a job."

"Oh." Demyx nodded before freezing. "Wait, what?"

"I felt bad about him getting suspended... He's barely getting by as it is so I asked him to work for me for the week. You know what? He did great, he's good at what he does and he even put up with Larxene with minimal problems so at the end I took him out for ice cream."

"Oh Axel..."

"On the clock tower."

"Oh god..."

"We talked, told each other a bit about ourselves. He made me laugh like I haven't laughed in... shit, I can't even remember when... and then I called him Xion."

Demyx swore before pulling him into a tight hug.

There was the sound of a throat clearing and when the two turned, the now fuming door greeter sent a glare of condescension their direction. "The next time you decide to have a chit chat with your friend over sex with your boyfriend please let me know ahead of time so I can get some actual work done instead of buying condoms." And with that he turned and stomped back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Axel pulled away from the hug gently. "I'm sorry, I should go. I didn't realize that you two were back together when I showed up."

But Demyx shook his head. "Don't. It doesn't matter, we got back together this morning; we're just fighting again sooner than I thought." The redhead didn't resist getting pulled to the couch while the blonde settled next to him. "Axel, you came here looking like I haven't seen you in years, you wouldn't have come at all if it was something you thought you could've handled by yourself."

The redhead swallowed and shot a glance at the door before his shoulders slumped. "Alright, so what should I do?"

Demyx gave him an almost pitying look. "You have to get away from him. You know that. Now since you've already given him a week long job that's not going to be easy but when you do have to interact with him keep it professional and brief."

There was a long pause before the spiky haired man spoke again. "I need a favour Dem."

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!"

Pale blue eyes glared at him. "You want me to find out more about Roxas."

Axel rubbed the back of his head guiltily. "You are the recon man." When a stony silence was all that followed the red head let out a long sigh. "There's something about him, and I'm not just talking about my name swap thing. Why did Xemnas hire him if he causes so many problems? Why is he so twitchy? Is he really Sora's cousin? There's something... I just can't put my finger on it. Please."

Demyx closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. This will end badly. I agree with you, I think Xemnas is connected to him somehow but that's just another reason for you to stay away from the kid... Go home Axel. Please, for once just follow my advice."

The redhead chewed his lip. Eventually he stood and stretched. At Demyx's questioning look he said, "Alright, I'm going to try. See you later Dem."

His blonde friend stood and walked him to the door before pressing a soft kiss against his cheek. "Just promise me something." Demyx murmured. "Don't go to Larxene and Marluxia tonight."

Axel forced a grin on to his face and batted the blonde away almost playfully. "Sure thing, don't worry about it." He strode out into the street and heard the door shut quietly behind him. The grin slid off his face leaving Axel numb with exhaustion. As he made his way back to the cafe, climbing the rickety steps in the back to the small apartment above it, he told himself that he could at least try to follow Demyx's advice. It couldn't be that hard could it? 'He looks so familiar.' He thought as his head hit the pillow.

A knock on the door was what woke him early the next morning. Axel cracked his eyes open and saw pale light pouring in from his window. "Whozere?" he slurred out, rubbing his eyes.

"Special delivery for an Axel?"

Green eyes snapped open. He knew that voice! Running to the door and jerking it open he saw a silver haired young man grinning from ear to ear. "Riku!" He laughed and pulled the man into a hug. "I thought you weren't coming for another week!"

"Nah, change of plans."

"Have you gone to see Sora yet?"

"I thought I'd surprise him, but then I found this guy wandering around." Riku gestured behind him and Axel's heart sank when he saw that blonde head of hair. "Roxas says he's doing my job for a week so I thought I'd come get you and we could all get breakfast together."

The redhead jerked his eyes away from Roxas to focus on what Riku was saying. "Well I'm not sure if you remember, but I do have to open up the cafe at 8:00 this morning."

"That's fine; by the time you change we should still have an hour and a half."

Axel processed this for a moment before it clicked. Six thirty in the morning. He swore internally and pulled them both inside, knowing that if anyone else had knocked on his door that early he would have stabbed them and gone back to bed. They had no idea how lucky they were.

~Roxas~

Roxas had never felt as unlucky as he did that morning. He hadn't slept. Couldn't sleep with that man in his apartment and when he finally couldn't stand it anymore and left at five, he came to the crushing realization that he had nowhere to go. He thought about taking a cab down to Sora but quickly dropped that idea when he remembered his money situation. Which was what led to his current predicament.

After standing in front of his apartment building for a moment he decided to pick a direction at random and walk. It was certainly getting colder at night and Roxas stuck his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

It didn't really surprise him when he stopped at the Castle Oblivion. The inside was still dark but the building itself still seemed to radiate with an eerie glow in the pale light. Roxas was about to crouch in the door way for a while when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Roxas whirled around, letting out a startled yell when he saw a silver haired man he hadn't seen in months.

"Sorry! Sorry! I thought you heard me calling you. I didn't mean to scare you."

Riku. Roxas stomach flip flopped uncomfortably. It wasn't that he disliked him exactly, there was always just this feeling coming off the other man that Roxas could never really put his finger on. Maybe it was because he felt protective of Sora and his cousin always seemed so sad when he talked about Riku, or maybe it was the look the silver haired man would give Sora when the brunette looked away; something intense and dark. Realizing that Riku was expecting a reply he shook his head quickly.

"Don't worry about it." He mumbled. "When did you get back?"

"My train got in about half an hour ago and I was going to stop by and see my future employer before he opens the cafe."

"Oh... Oh!" Roxas eyes widened. At Riku's questioning look he explained what had transpired in the last few days and when he finished, the older man looked thoughtful.

"That's weird, he doesn't usually hire new people."

"Yeah, well..." The blonde looked away. "It's just for a week while I'm waiting to get back to my job." His stomach let out a long groan and he laughed uncomfortably. "Sorry, I forgot to eat dinner."

Riku thought for a second and smiled. "I have an idea, come with me, we'll grab Axel and go for breakfast."

"I don't think-"

"It should be fine. Hell, I'll be the one asking him and you need food. Listen, it's my treat." And before Roxas could protest further, Riku had climbed a set of creaking steps at the side of the building and was knocking on the door. Figuring that all was said and done at this point, Roxas followed him, making sure to stay behind the silver haired man just in case Axel tried to kill them.

The redhead's reaction to Riku surprised him, but what got to him more were the looks of pure anxiety Axel was shooting him, even before he pulled them both into his room. Roxas averted his eyes as the older man dressed and looked around his apartment instead. When Axel had changed into a clean black outfit (much more casual than the one he had worn to Organization XIII) they three set out. Roxas followed behind the two, wanting to listen to them if only to ignore the interchange between his father and him the previous night.

They ordered their food, Roxas finally being pulled into the conversation by Riku. "So, it's been a while since we talked kiddo, have you found a special girl yet?"

Not exactly the most scintillating topic, but he felt like he should appreciate the gesture, replying: "No, not really. I don't know enough girls to be interested in any of them, and the girls I do know, know me well enough that they aren't interested in me either."

"Well have you asked any of them out?" Riku pressed. "You can't be alone forever; people will start to think you're weird."

Roxas knew the silver haired man didn't mean anything by it, but it still sounded too much like something his father might say and so before he could stop himself, he had already snapped "Is that why you've never gotten a girlfriend?" He put a hand over his mouth but it was too late, the other two sat there shocked but seemed to recover quickly.

"Roxas." There was a warning note in Axel's voice.

Roxas looked away, hating the way those green eyes seemed to bore into him. "I'm sorry," he started, but jumped a little as Riku's hand touched his. He didn't mean to jerk it away and he was relieved when Riku didn't seem to be offended.

"It's fine. But you should know that the reason I don't have a girlfriend isn't because I'm a little off, it's just... How do I explain this delicately?"

Axel snorted. "Don't shelter the kid, he's not that delicate. Roxas, Riku is gay."

The blonde opened his mouth but no words came out. Gay? Like, _Gay_ gay? He waited for the shock of this new revelation to set in as Riku flinched and muttered, "Thank you Axel." After a minute, when everything still seemed normal, Roxas closed his mouth.

What surprised him most was that it didn't surprise him. Riku had always been Riku, and this didn't really change that, in fact, it explained quite a bit. The way he had never really looked at girls, the way he had only ever really looked at... OH. The silver haired man still seemed to be waiting for a response and so he said the most practical thing that came to his head. "You're in love with Sora."

There was a long pause in which the colour first drained, then filled Riku's cheeks. Axel burst out laughing, slapping his hand on the silver haired man's shoulder. "Well there you go Riku, let it not be said that Roxas is an idiot!"

The blonde hadn't blinked, waiting for Riku to make eye contact. "Have you told Sora anything this? The two of you are best friends, right?"

The man across from him held his gaze but his face had taken on a strained, pinched look. "Sora was the first person I told that I was gay. But I told him not to worry because I'd never come on to him. I meant that and Sora can't know about this. He's happy; I don't want to mess that up."

Roxas thought about that for a moment before nodding. "I won't tell him."

There was an awkward silence in which their food arrived and Roxas, famished, dug into his pancakes. The matter seemed to be settled because the other two had begun wolfing down their food too. Still, feeling eyes on him his glanced up to see Axel look back at his food quickly.

"Uh, Axel?"

"What's up kiddo?"

"Is there any way I could get off work half an hour early today?"

The redhead looked up again, confused. "If you tell me why."

Roxas exhaled and stabbed at the pancakes. "Uh, well, my Dad's in town and he needs... He needs me to be home early."

Now Riku looked up, he gave Roxas a searching gaze before saying "I can cover the end of Roxas' shift."

Axel looked at them both before shrugging. "S'fine. As long as the work gets done and you don't mind that money not going on your paycheck. "

Roxas gritted his teeth. Great. He knew it was completely fair to expect less pay and he wasn't angry with Axel for it. The workplace was just something else his father would be trying to control, like every other part of Roxas' life. He remembered the conversation that had taken place the previous night and he gripped his fork tighter.

"_So, this is where you live now? These conditions are hardly acceptable for rats, let alone a young man."_

"_I like it here. It's secluded, it's within walking distance of everything I need and I can afford it. Is this a social visit? Or did you have a special reason for breaking into my apartment?"_

_Those cold green eyes never changed their gaze of mild disinterest. "I hardly broke in. I simply got a duplicate key cut when you first moved in."_

"_You have GOT to be kidding me! You can't just-"_

_His father stood, voice finally taking on an almost deadly tone. "You will watch your mouth and show me some respect before I take away every inch of freedom I have allowed you." Roxas swallowed hard, watching as his father drew nearer. "You convinced me that you were well enough and capable enough to live on your own. Was I incorrect in believing you could?"_

_Roxas voice came out as a choked whisper. "No, Sir."_

_The older blonde man gave him a poisonous smile. "Speak up boy I can barely hear you."_

"_No Sir!" Blue eyes didn't dare to close lest he lose his nerve._

_The smile was gone, the bored look returning as the older man walked around the room, silently investigating things with mild disdain. Roxas didn't move a muscle, waiting for the green eyed man to speak again._

"_You have been taking your medication?"_

"_Yes Sir." He hesitated "Well, sometimes." At the look he was given he blurted out "I'm nineteen! If I was going to grow anymore don't you think I would have done it? And the anxiety pills don't really feel like they help me. I'm tense with or without them... Sir."_

_His father waved a dismissive hand. "I can alter the dosage on both drugs without a problem. In the mean time however we need to talk about your current employment or lack thereof. As it is too late to go and ask for your job back tonight, we will be leaving first thing in the morning to have your suspension lifted."_

"_How did you even find out about that? You live out of town! Also, I've taken care of it. I have another job to tide me over until then so you don't need to worry about it."_

"_Do you now? Regardless, tomorrow we are going to get your old one back. If you must insist on attending you current employment we will leave at 5:30 tomorrow. Don't be late." _

_And then his father turned away from him in dismissal. He doubted the man had even noticed his bruised cheek, or the fact that he was walking home in a bad end of town at night. He knew that the older man didn't care where he was working now, as long as he could get him back under his thumb. Back to medication. Back to his handpicked job. He would go back to being a violent, panicked time bomb and his father didn't care- NEVER cared. As it was the man was settling down onto the top covers of the bed and closing his eyes, not asking if he could spend the night, not even offering to sleep on the couch. Roxas knew that the man lying on top of the covers seldom really thought of him as his son. He was barely more than an experiment._

"Roxas!"

His head jerked up and he suddenly became conscious of the piece of twisted metal in his hand that had once been a fork. Guiltily putting it down he looked at Axel's face, not accusing, just curious and... worried? Suddenly, the redhead wasn't looking at him anymore, but at something behind him. Eyes wild, jaw tight, Axel's hands clenched and unclenched rapidly. Riku saw whatever it was too, but his reaction was much different.

"Time to go guys, you two wait outside I'll pay the bill. Axel, come on." He tried to pull the redhead out of his seat but Axel seemed fixated on something over Roxas' left shoulder. Finally the blonde turned to look.

Fire. Candles and alcohol and a small fire on a folding table, still controllable but Roxas could still see the black creatures twisting inside it; tiny, but growing steadily with the flame. There was a waitress apologising but her voice was fading out quickly as Roxas began to hyperventilate, a roar like too much wind forced through a cave filled his head, and when the patron stood and knocked it over, sending still burning ash flying towards him everything went black.

~Riku~

It was not easy being a friend of both Sora's and Axel's. Too many responsibilities piled up as a result, and frankly, Riku didn't like responsibility. No one else seemed to understand this however, as he was constantly told "Look out for so-and-so."

"Look out for Sora." Kairi said.

"Keep an eye on Axel." Namine said.

"Please, if I'm not there, can you watch out for Roxas?" Sora had asked.

And he had. He watched out for so many people that his head spun until finally, despite his feelings for his best friend and the impending talk there, he left for university. 'Good riddance.' He had thought as he packed his things and headed off. 'No one is going to rely on me anymore!' He hummed cheerfully on the train ride to the new city. 'No one is going to need me anymore!'

He got to campus and the smile dropped off his face. "No one is going to need me anymore." He thought again with a sudden horrific realization. His friends would get by without him until they forgot him completely. Sora would forget him if he wasn't needed to look out for people.

So he studied, took extra classes, anything to get out of there earlier. He had made a mistake in going away, he knew that but once again he would take responsibility and finish it. "God, when I get back I don't care how many people I have to look after, just let Sora still need me." Every night for three years he murmured that prayer, only half believing in the deity he spoke to.

Well, he decided, whatever was watching over him certainly paid very close attention to what he was willing to do. He hadn't been back in town more than two hours and already two people needed help.

It was just breakfast! How could everything go so wrong so early in the morning? He knew when he saw the exhausted waitress handling a customer's alcohol while setting up the candles that something would go wrong. Who the hell orders rum at 7:00 in the morning anyway? But then something odd happened. He saw the leg of the person sitting in the booth behind Roxas swing out and trip the woman, causing her to stumble and hit the side of the folding table she had just set up. Clear alcohol dribbled over the table as a lit candle wobbled before rolling onto its side, setting the table alight.

Shit. He tried to move the transfixed redhead and get them both out of there before Axel was blamed and Roxas went catatonic with fear. 'Don't look Roxas.' He tried to will the information into the blonde's brain. The kid did not need this, especially with his dad hanging around. Riku himself had only met the man a few times but- Roxas looked. The silver haired man's brain almost froze at the look of terror that crossed the blonde's face.

"Axel, come on! We have to go!" He grabbed onto the green eyed man's arm, ready to haul him out by force and come back for Roxas when the customer stood up, sending the flaming liquid flying at them. A bit splashed on Roxas sleeve setting it on fire so that Riku had to reach over and smack it out before it spread. "Roxas, get UP!" He yelled, but it was obvious to anyone watching that the kid wasn't in his own head anymore.

Upon hearing his name however, the blonde's body seemed to react, hurtling himself across the table and into Axel, babbling wildly as he clung to the spiky haired man. Thankfully, this seemed to shock Axel out of his own immobile state and Riku only had to move out of the way before the redhead, holding onto Roxas with one arm, threw himself out of the booth and then out of the restaurant.

A fire extinguisher was brought in immediately afterwards and the fire was put out. The silver haired man slapped some money down on the table and turned to head out after his friends but was stopped by a voice like dark velvet.

"Rum is highly flammable, wouldn't you say?"

The blood seemed to freeze in Riku's veins as he turned. "Xehanort."

"You know perfectly well that's not the name I go by anymore. You'll have to forgive the mess; I am so very clumsy sometimes. Twitchy though, aren't they?"

Riku tore his eyes away from that amber gaze, so angry he felt sick to his stomach. "That... You-"

Xemnas let a cruel smile twist his lips. "It was a pleasure speaking to you Riku. I'll be sure to let Sora know you're in town. No doubt he will be thrilled. Good day." And the man turned his back, resuming his seat as the waitress apologised profusely.

He had no time to drag the man out back and beat him though he dearly wished to. Instead he let the matter drop and dashed outside to help- no one. They had taken off to god knows where, though, if he thought about it, they had probably just gone back to the apartment. Riku checked his watch. He had been back for three hours. He turned his face to the sky and spoke softly.

"Very funny God."

End chapter 3

Sorry about the late update! We are in exam season now and though I should have seen it coming I am absolutely swamped and will be so for the next few weeks. Thank you for being so patient everyone!

To my awesome reviewers!

FatefullDestiny: Sorry again for being late. I'm glad you like it and your question will be answered in the next chapter!

Roxas-Key of Destiny: Hee hee! As you've probably noticed, Roxas doesn't like to take things lying down. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Alright guys, much love and freshly baked goods to all of you! Please continue to read, review and enjoy!


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